Tuesday, November 27, 2007

According to the Detroit News, the rumor that Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz was signed, sealed and on his way to A2 is nothing more than the sort of thing that will pop up five more times over the course of Michigan's search.

I would have been very surprised if it was true, not so much due to the choice itself, but rather what that would have said about how the search was conducted. To simply go out and grab somebody without going through the process - somebody who clearly isn't the commodity of say, Urban Meyer when he left Utah a few years ago - would have been foolish.

Now, our blogging brother-in-arms, Brian at MGoBlog, has been all over the Ferentz rumor - even following a mysterious flight from Willow Run to Cedar Rapids yesterday. But while I think Brian is probably one of the most well-informed bloggers out there (he was the first to break the story about Lloyd stepping down) I still think it's a case of the Internet grapevine here. At least that's my opinion. My uninformed-I-put-up-pix-of-semi-naked-coeds opinion.

I think this search may take a bit. So sit back, relax and get ready for the next whopper to drop into your inbox.

P.S. You know, just to show how dangerous a few fans can be, we should all agree on a name - I dunno, say...Bob Stoops - then hit all the message boards with some serious post about how we "just read this on an Oklahoma board" or something credible-sounding to see if we can get it started.

35 comments:

When tOSU hired Jim Tressel, it seemed to take forever. Rumors had Glen Mason as offered, Mike Bellotti and Jon Gruden. Andy Gieger took his time and got the right man for tOSU. It was after the bowl games before we had our coach, about 310 days before we saw you guys again as I recall...

It's very interesting to look at the time frame that it takes schools to complete the hiring process. Texas A&M hired Mike Sherman all of three (3) days after Franchione resigned. Sounds like UM is going to take weeks, if not months.

I did not have a pleasant evening ......I am now going to take a deep breath, say "OMMM" and ignore all horrid rumors until Bill Martin announces the next head football coach. That was way too much to take last night....I nearly jumped off a cliff ;o)

I'm not sure I really dig Ferentz. What has he done at Iowa? If you look at his overall college record, he barely has a winning record. I'd rather see Ron English at the helm then this dude? Doesn't he also have a son that has committed to play at Iowa?

first, the Ferentz rumor could be true to the point that they sent the jet to fetch him. he's a "good" coach, run a "big" program. 3 years ago he was the flavor of the month. would make sense that he'd be considered. why not interview him now, walk him around campus? part of the search involves talking to candidates (collective "duh"). chances are we'll have a few people in like this, especially while we're waiting to talk to coaches whose teams are in post season bowls.

second, if Mary Sue had already made up her mind (ala A&M), i doubt that she'd have let Martin run on at the mouth, talking about the "search" process. above all, i think they're most concerned w/ appearance- they don't want to look desperate, ala ND George O'Leary/Ty Willingham debacle, or foolish. announcing a big search and then hiring the preselected candidate the next week would look foolish.

third, if the hiring of a b-ball coach showed us nothing, it demonstrated how patient Martin can be. it was weeks after Amaker's firing before we heard ANYTHING about where the process was going. given the bowl schedule, this will take even longer.

I fell for the rumor. Someone posted on Wikipedia and I bit. I even posted here lamenting the quick grab (then deleted when I figured out the ruse). I'm happy to wait as long as it takes. For some reason even a bad choice with some thought and effort behind it seems better than a knee-jerk hire.

Just to be clear....Texas A&M took more than 3 days to hire Mike Sherman. Coach Fran was dismissed several weeks ago, he just got to stand on the sideline while the team played out the rest of the season.

Mike Sherman twice worked for RC Slocum at A&M and currently coaches for Gary Kubiak (former Aggie QB) at the Texans. Some deals are done before they hit the blogs or press.

Oklahoma is one of the premier jobs in CFB. Michigan is one of the top 5, for sure, but Oklahoma is no slouch. I would expect Bob Stoops to stay where he is. Besides, he runs up the score, and that's not the Michigan way. He's the reason that I dislike OU.

Mike Sherman was next in line to replace a guy on his way out. He has strong ties to the school and IMO is a great hire. Ferentz is connected to UM through Mary Sue and his daughter who was a student at UM. Any quick hire of him smacks of cronyism.

Hey Katie,I haven't seen that much panic since the Horror. Meltdowns are not becoming of Michigan fans, but I do have to say it was quite interesting on MGoBlog for a while, with updates from the airport and everything!

November 23, 2007 – Dennis Franchione resigns as head football coach at Texas A &M;November 26, 2007 – Mike Sherman announced as new head football coach at A&M.November 19, 2006 – Lloyd Carr announces at press conference that he is resigning.

There is no evidence currently in the public domain that Franchione was dismissed “…several weeks ago..” Also, as any attorney can confirm, if two parties want to get a deal done fast, it can be easily done in three days.

Anything is possible and speculation with respect to coaching vacancies is rampant as we all know. To speculate: if Franchione’s departure at A&M was known in advance, it is equally likely that certain people at UM had more than an inkling in advance that this would be Carr’s final season. So, again to speculate, if the A&M change was a “done deal”, then UM could have had their own deal done in similar fashion.

Again, my point is that it took A&M three days after Franchione’s official announcement to name a new coach. It seems it is going to take UM longer to do the same after Carr’s resignation.

The one name I keep expecting to hear in multiple coaching searches that I'm not hearing is Randy Edsall of UConn.

Sure he got pounded by West Virginia last week, but his body of work at a basketball school that was 1-AA in football not that long ago is impressive. If you can build something from nothing, you might just be able to improve upon a (insert big-time football school name here) program.

dezzi: Jeff Bower, while a fairly good coach, never really advanced SoMiss beyond a certain point. His name gets tossed about casually during the biennial coaching searches at Alabama - mainly because he's beaten them a few times in 17 his years in Hattiesburg.

He's respected, but I don't know if he's got the PR chops to handle a really big job. I'd take him as a coordinator in a heartbeat, though.

The University of Michigan invites applications for the position of Head Football Coach. This position entails the leadership of all phases of the Football program. Responsibilities include, but are not limited to; coaching, the recruitment of qualified student-athletes, support of the academic progress of student-athletes, budget management, and community relations. Job Requirements: Minimum qualifications: Bachelor’s degree required. A thorough knowledge of NCAA rules and regulations is required.

Michigan will hire Les Miles. Can't do anything until the SEC championship game. Look for announcement on Monday or Tuesday. Expect a lot of fall out with recruits as some assistant coaches will leave.

regarding the connecticut coach....while it is admirable to build something from nothing, that is not the task at Michigan, which is to keep an elite program elite. There are some coaches who can do both, but there are a lot of them who cannot (and many who can do neither).

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